King Camera Upgraded to 2.0, Includes Zoom and a Sale

The King Camera (App Store link) for iOS has been upgraded to 2.0 with the upgraded version now in the Apple App Store. This is the first major upgrade of the app since its original 1.0 release (though I think an update back in June of this year that finally added 1:1 aspect ratio cropping was pretty significant as well). Say Cheezzz, the developer of the app states that it has been basically rebuilt from the ground up. I upgraded and had a little (not much) time to try it out today. The photo featured here in the upper left (pumpkins, gourds) is one of mine which I shot and processed on my iPhone 4 using the King Camera app version 2.0.

The user interface has been made prettier, but you won't be lost, it is still basically the same as before, but you will notice some pleasing changes to it. One of which is a red dark room light that flashes on and off when the app is processing changes to an image. It is nice change from just a spinning whatever-you-call-it in the middle of the screen. They have added new effect modules and textures as well as an "intensifier" feature. All are welcome additions. But what they giveth, they also taketh away. I notice some missing filters/themes/frames that had been in the app previously… They are now gone. For example, a theme called "Class of 1989" which I liked is now gone. Why must these camera app developers take away options when they add new ones? (Yeah, I know, they want to keep it simple and not overwhelming, but maybe allow us to turn the old ones back on via preferences or something. The same thing happened with the recent Instagram upgrade where they added filters while removing other filters).

The additions of textures is great. You can layer up to three here. They have also added light leaks too and it too can be layered up to three. The selection of borders (frames) seems to have been refined as well. Perhaps the biggest oversight in the earlier version has been addressed with the addition of pinch zoom now. Finally we have pinch zoom! I am speaking of zooming up on images we have already taken, the app always had a digital zoom for taking photos. There are more new features added with this upgrade, see below for a list.

Overall, the 2.0 app now feels more responsive and speedier. Not just speedier navigating the app, but taking photos as well.

King Camera was one of the teneleven go-to apps for iPhone photography (which I probably need to update since there has been some changes since I wrote it), Ten Go-To Apps for iPhone Photography. It is good to see the developers continue to improve this camera app. It seems fairly solid, though it did crash once on me with heavy use today. I haven't tested everything out yet since the upgrade. As I said, I wish certain things weren't removed to make way for the new, but it's still a good app and a good choice for photography on the iPhone.

If upgrading from a previous version, the developers advise saving any images you may have in King Camera library to your camera roll first.

To celebrate the upgrade, the developers have put the app on sale for 99 cents (US) for a limited time. It is usually $2.99 or $1.99.

Below are all the new features included in the 2.0 upgrade. This is the developers list:

(Please note: This posting was supposed to be an entry on my blog on this site, not a regular ATP post. Once I realized the error, it was too late to move it. Art Trap Productions is not connected or affiliated with the King Camera app or its developers in any way. Apple App Store links are affiliate links.)